Snapshots: Senators must go back to work on defensive play

NEW YORK — It will be back to the drawing board Sunday at Madison Square Garden for the Ottawa Senators.

While they don’t quit, they’ve got to figure out a way not to dig themselves such a big hole in the first place and that has to happen quick.

As they prepare to face the New York Rangers on Monday night, the Senators have lost three in a row, including Friday’s 6-4 setback against the Dallas Stars, when they were plagued by the same defensive errors they’ve been making all season.

Head coach Guy Boucher knows this can’t keep happening and he, like everybody else involved, is trying to come up with answers. The Senators allowed a season-high 54 shots by the Stars, and it was the second time this season they gave up 50-plus.

Stars forward Alexander Radulov, background, reacts after teammate Jamie Benn (14) scores against the Senators in the first period of Friday’s game in Dallas.Brandon Wade /
AP

“Individually you’ve got to make the right decisions and you’ve got to be better with you’re one-on-one battles. That’s it,” Boucher said. “The minute we get excited and want to score right away, we have a tendency to open up, and, when you play against good players, they’ll give it to you.

“Consistency is the issue. It’s not that we’re not able to do it, it’s doing shift-in and shift-out, period-in and period-out and game-to-game. It’s not that we haven’t displayed good periods or good moments where we haven’t played well, it’s just that have problems being consistent at it.”

The Senators are resilient. Trailing 5-2 in the third period on Friday, they got back within one on goals by Maxime Lajoie and Zack Smith, but the Stars put it away with an empty-net goal.

Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk (7) celebrates scoring a goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Dallas Stars, Friday, Nov. 23, 2018, in Dallas.Brandon Wade /
AP

It was a similar story Wednesday in Minnesota. The Senators trailed 4-1 heading into the third period, tied it up and then gave the winning goal moments later.

“There is a good storyline in there,” said winger Bobby Ryan, who had three assists Friday. “These young guys, we’re looking to build something here long-term with those guys, and they’re a bunch that wants to get better and win every day.

“And that’s the silver lining in there. Some of these games are going to turn the other way for us in the future.”

The Senators have talked a lot in the past week about having to improve defensively. They wouldn’t need comebacks if they could cut down on errors in their own zone. The thinking coming into the season was they would have trouble scoring goals, but it hasn’t been an issue at all.

Guy Boucher.Jean Levac /
Postmedia News

The injection of the likes of Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson along with major steps by Thomas Chabot, Colin White, Christian Jaros and Lajoie have helped them compete. The key to additional success is cutting down on scoring chances for opponents.

“We’re going to make mistakes. It happens,” goalie Craig Anderson said. “We’ve got to try to find the good things we had and exploit those and make sure we talk about that as well.

“We can score. That’s a good thing. We’ve got some skill and we’ve got guys that have talent and have abilities to make plays. That’s one thing that we’ve had all year, and that’s exciting. It’s exciting to be a part of and it’s just the other part (defensively) that we need a little bit of work on.

“We’ve talked about it and we’re trying to move in that direction and, hopefully, we’re able to take a couple of strides forward.”

Stars defenceman Taylor Fedun scoresa goal against the Senators’ Craig Anderson during the second period on Friday night.Brandon Wade /
AP

NO UPDATE ON STONE

The status of winger Mark Stone for Monday’s game won’t be known until after the Senators skate on Sunday. They didn’t practise Saturday.

Stone received a puck in the face in the third period on Friday night, when a puck deflected off his stick. He subsequently left the game and didn’t return.

Boucher told reporters following the game that Stone, the Senators’ best player, had to wait for the swelling to go down before any update could be provided.

“Right now, I hear he might not need an X-ray, so hopefully it stays like that and the swelling goes down,” Boucher said. “We’ve got to wait and see what the medical staff will tell us. Hopefully, he’s OK and at worst he plays with a cage, but I’m not the one making those decisions, so we’ll wait and see what happens.”

White and Mark Borowiecki didn’t suit up Friday because of unspecified injuries, even though White had participated briefly in the morning skate.

They are listed as day-to-day, so their status will also be determined either Sunday or after Monday’s morning skate.

Mark Stone.Wayne Cuddington /
Postmedia

THE LAST WORDS

The Senators will be in New York while the Redblacks are contesting Sunday’s Grey Cup, and defenceman Cody Ceci hopes they can win against the Calgary Stampeders in Edmonton.

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